Grain door



R. E. SMITH.

GRAIN DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY10.1919.

1 ,423,040. Patented ly 18, 1922.

WWW

VIII/I/Il/II/IIIII/II/III/I/I/II/I/IIA STAEE ROY E. SMITH, OF IUKA, ILLINOIS.

Fries.

GRAIN noon.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, Roy E. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Iuka, Marion county, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Grain Door, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in grain doors for box cars.

Heretofore in practice it has been customary to use a reinforced board or plank eX- tending across the bottom of the door opening of the box cars for the loading of grain, this board or plank is set inside or the door opening and nailed to the inner .wall of the car at eachside of the door opening. The purpose of this plank or grain door, as it has been designated, is to prevent the grain from leaking from the car through the door opening. In unloading a car it has been the practice to cut out this plank or grain door with an axe after the car has been set in positionat a platform or chute for the reception of the grain. In this way a large quantity of material is destroyed as the cutting of the board renders 1t useless for further use.

The object of the present invention is to provide a grain door that may be readily set in place at the bottom of the door opening of the car, and which may be held firmly in adjustment to prevent the leakage of the grain from the car, said door being constructed so as to permit it to be released without destruction, when the grain is unloaded.

Additional advantages of the construction will be apparent from the following detailed description of the invention taken in connection with the drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a section of the box car showing the grain door of the present invention in place for preventing the leakage of the grain.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

As illustrated in the drawing the car body is shown of the usual construction with side walls 1 and a door opening 2, it being understood that a sliding exterior door is provided for the closing of the door opening.

The grain door of the invention consists of two sections 8, each section being made up of an outer board 4 and an inner board 5, which are rigidly secured together, preierably by a series of screws 6 extending Specification of Letters Patent. p t te gmy g 1922 Application filed July 10,

1919. Serial No. 309,826.

through the sections near the ends thereof. The front part 4 is of a length slightly less than thelength of the back section 5, so as to provide a space for vertical reinforcing stri 3s 7 which are likewise secured to the back l)O&lCl by a series of screws 6.

At the outer end of each of the sections 3, and running vertically parallel with the edge of the sections, are metal strips 8. A series of openings 9 are provided through the metal strip 8, the ends of the member 5, and through the members'Z.

In order to secure the sections together a substantial metal angle-shaped hasp 10, having eyes 11 at its extremities is secured. to one 01 the sections 3 by eye-bolts 12, and a' staple in the'iorm of an eye-bolt '13 is secured to the other of the sections 3, the hasp and staple-being so arranged that the angle section of the hasp will pass over the staple when the sections are brought together for adjustment for insertion in the car opening.

A pin 14. which may be securedto the section 3 containing the staple by a chain 15. is provided for insertion in-the staple, to hold the hasp in position. The pin 14 has a slot 16 therein for the reception of a car seal 17, to prevent an unauthorized removal of the grain door. In practice the two sections of the grain door are secured together by the hasp and staple construction, and then the door placed in position in the car, so the ends thereof extend beyond the sides of the door opening.

7 The grain door is then nailed in position by nails or spikes extending through the openings 9 and into the side walls of the car, the heads of the spikes bearing against the metal strips 8. When it is desired to secure access to the grain, the car seal is removed and the pin 14; raised out of the staple 13, and the hasp swung out of position and the two sections moved outwardly by the use of a bar or other implement. The two sec tions 3 of the grain door may be pulled out readily as indicated in Fig. 2, and as the sections bear against the edge of the door opening, they constitute levers for pulling the nails or spikes out of the side walls of the car, so that the sections may be removed from position in the door opening.

' It is apparent that the sections may be readily re-assembled for use after they have been. removed from the car.

I am aware that the construction may be modified in certain particulars without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I do not limit myself, therefore, to the exact features, shown and described, but what I claim and desire by Letters Patent, is

1. A grain door, comprising two separate sections, each of which includes a vertical inner layer of board and a separate outer layer of board rigidly secured together and the outer layer terminating short of the vertical edges of the inner layer at both ends; a reinforcing strip secured to each extended end of the inner layer of board at each end of the outer layer and filling the spaces between the ends of the outer layers and the ends of the inner layers respectively; a i -shaped bar having the extremities of its arms pivoted to one ofsaid sections between the two reinforcing strips secnred to said section and being arranged to extend entirely across the two adjacent reinforcing strips and overlap relatively a considerable part of the other section; and a fastening member carried by said other section between the two reinforcing strips secured to said other section arranged to be received between the arms of said bar at their point of union.

2. A grain door, comprising two separate sections, each of which includes a vertical inner layer of board and a separa .e outer layer of board rigidly secured together and the outer layer terminating short of the vertical edges of the inner layer at both ends; a reinforcing strip secured. to each extended end of the inner layer of board at each end of the outer layer and filling the spaces be tween the ends of said outer layers and the ends of the inner layers respectively; a V-shaped bar having the extremities of its arms pivoted to one of said sections be tween the two reinforcing strips secured to said section and being arranged to extend entirely across the two adjacent reinforcing strips and overlap relatively a considerable part of the other section; a fastening member carried by said other section between the two reinforcing strips secured to said other section arranged to be received between the arms or said bar at their point of union; and means carried by said other section for cooperating with saidifastening member to hold said bar in said position.

ROY E. SMITH. 

